Striker Lisa De Vanna and her mighty Australian teammates will each leave Canada with just $2850 in their pockets if they lose their upcoming World Cup quarter-final. Photo: AFP

A spokesman for the Football Federation of Australia said it had made significant investments in preparation for the cup, a clear indication of its intention to help women's soccer grow.

The way payments are made to members of the men's national team, the Socceroos, and Matildas players are structurally different and therefore difficult to compare – but it is clear which team makes more money.

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The base payment the Matildas get from the FFA for an international match is $500, plus a $150 a night living allowance.

If the Matildas make the final of the World Cup, the FFA will pay them just $1500 for that match.

On the other hand, the FFA pays the Socceroos a $6000 base payment for every international game.

FFA confirmed it paid Matildas players a $21,000 annual salary, which the Socceroos do not receive.

But according to the Socceroos collective bargaining agreement, each player would have pocketed $103,148 after they won the Asian Cup earlier this year, a figure that did not include prize money because the organisers did not offer it.

If the Matildas were to win the World Cup, they would be paid $5600 for the tournament by the FFA, plus earn about $26,000 each in prize money from tournament organisers.

The FFA spokesman said the Matildas squad had been together in camp for more than five months through a tour of New Zealand, home internationals, the Cyprus Cup, a tour of Europe and several camps in Sydney and Canberra.

They were paid $500 a game for the 10 matches they played this year in the lead up to the World Cup.

The FFA spokesman said playing in the World Cup would open doors to some of the big competitions around the world for Matildas players, where they could earn good money supplementing their income from Australia's W-League.

"FFA is working hard to overcome the challenges in securing commercial partners for women's football on top of the commitment from Westfield who support both the W-League and Matildas," he said.

"The results in Canada and the way the players have conducted themselves can only help in securing the commercial support that can drive significant growth in expenditure.

"As football continues to grow we will look to invest even further in women's football to create an environment that will help all players."